


It's Good To Be In Manchester

by danrifics



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Coming Out, Cute, Domestic Dan Howell/Phil Lester, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, No Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 07:02:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20466968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danrifics/pseuds/danrifics
Summary: Dan and Phil are in Manchester visiting their friends Ian and Lauren Ian and Lauren’s daughter draws a cute photo of Phil.(Based on a Phil insta story, link in notes)





	It's Good To Be In Manchester

**Author's Note:**

> Phil's instagram story https://dailydnp.tumblr.com/post/187390644222/amazingphil-via-instagram-story-300819 
> 
> Here's a younow from 2012 with baby Emily and also Lauren https://youtu.be/S3cmOWNESWU?t=3096

It’s good to be in Manchester. It’s less chaotic than London, it feels calm. 

The old memories of this place are fresh in both of their minds. The city is full of secret dates and kisses in the dark as well as so many firsts, first kisses, first dates, first homes. 

It reminds them of who they were and who they aren’t anymore.

They could walk around here holding hands now if they wanted, instead of standing just a bit too close, but they don’t they continue how they always have. 

Maybe they don’t need to hold hands, maybe walking shoulder to shoulder is enough. It is enough. They know how they feel about each other and maybe some of the world is being a little slow to catch up but the important people know and that’s enough.

They see Ian, an old friend of Phil’s from university, from across the road, his 7 year old is clinging to his back. 

It was the first time this year that they’d come to Manchester, they usually tried to aim for twice a year and they had managed that every year since they moved to London but with making their coming out videos, this year they’d barely found time. As usual they were staying with Ian and his wife, Lauren and of course their daughter, Emily.

Ian and his daughter laugh and Ian says something to the young girl. They watch as she looks to the left and right at the road to check for cars before saying go, Ian runs and she laughs again.

Once they cross Ian sets her back on the floor. That’s when she sees them.

“Uncle Phil!” she cheers.

She runs to them both, Phil crouches to her level and she hugs him tight.

“Wow, Emily.” Dan says, sarcastically “forget I'm even here”

She laughs as she pulls away from Phil. Phil stands back up. They watch as she gets all shy, putting her hands behind her back and swaying slightly. She always does this to Dan.

“Hi, Daniel, I didn’t see you there” she tries to be serious but ends up giggling.

Dan rolls his eyes and laughs. “How didn’t you see me? I’m a giant”

Emily shakes her head “If you’re a giant, where’s your beanstalk?”

“It’s in London. Don’t worry though, the golden goose is watching over it”

“You’re silly” She turns back to Ian “Daddy, Daniel is silly”

“You’re right and you should say it” Ian agreed.

Before they head back to Ian’s house the 4 of them stop off at McDonalds with the promise that no one mentions it to Lauren. They all look at Emily and she pretends to zip up her lips and promises her mum will never know, and they believe her. That is until they get back to the house and it’s the first thing she declares to her mum.

Lauren just laughs it off and announces that she’s still going to cook the pizza she bought but was now going to eat it herself in front of them as punishment. Dan laughs at first but then realises she might actually be serious.

*

Lauren lets them all eat pizza, there’s no way she could eat that much by herself. She warns that next time they come down she won’t be so lenient with them. 

Dan offers to help wash up but Lauren says no, they are guests in her house. She makes Ian do it instead.

Phil is already sat on the sofa when Dan enters the room. Emily is sat next to him with a notepad in her hands, she’s writing something down. Dan stands in the doorway and watches. He quickly realises she’s not writing, she’s drawing and more specifically, she’s drawing Phil. 

“Uncle Phil” she beams “It’s finished!”

Phil smiles and gently takes the drawing from Emily. 

“I love it! Emily this is the best art I've ever seen”

“Is it good enough for you to post on your instagram?” She asks

“Not only is it good enough for instagram” He begins as he picks up his phone “it’s good enough for an art gallery”

Dan smiles at the pair of them. He watches as Phil takes a picture of the drawing and types something out. Emily leans over him and watches him post it.

Dan loves this. Every time they come here he sees it more and more, how great of a father Phil is going to be someday. He can’t help but smile at the both of them as the continue to chat away and laugh. 

“He’s great with her” Dan jumps as Lauren speaks from behind him.

He looks over his shoulder at her “He really is”

“When are you guys having a kid then” She asks

“Lauren, please we only just got a fish. One step at a time”

Lauren laughs. “I know. You have to buy a house first blah blah blah”

Dan turns now to look at her “We’re working on it also…”

“What?”

Dan pulls out his phone from his pocket and opens his emails. He shows Lauren a receipt for a ring. An engagement ring.

“Dan!” She beams “When?”

“Soon. You gotta keep it quiet though” 

“My lips are sealed” She does the same zipped mouth action that Emily had done earlier

“That’s what your daughter said about the McDonalds” Dan laughs.

“Daniel!” he hears Emily shout from the other room “Come see what I drew”

He looks at Lauren “Your daughter is very demanding”

He heads back into the living room and sits on the other side of Emily, she shows him her notepad. He looks at her drawing, he thinks it's of him, it’s hard to tell through the mess of wavy lines and random rectangles but the scribbles on the head of his curly hair really give it away. Phil takes a photo of it.

Emily looks so proud of herself as she points out all of his features. She shows him the one of Phil too, the only reason he knows it's Phil is because she’s wrote his name under it. 

“Uncle Phil thought my drawings could go in an art gallery” Emily says proudly.

“I think next to the Mona Lisa” Phil adds

“I don’t think next to the Mona Lisa is a good idea” Dan comments, 

Emily looks sad when Dan speaks but he continues “I think they need to replace it”

Emily practically jumps on him as she gives him a hug. Dan smiles and hugs her back 

“This is why you’re my favourite one of Uncle Phil’s friends” She beams

Dan’s smile drops and he looks over at Phil, who looks back reassuringly. They both know that Emily is unaware of their relationship. That’s why she refers to Phil as her Uncle and Dan only by his first name. She thinks they’re just friends and that’s okay, she’s young and she doesn’t understand relationships and she probably doesn’t understand sexuality either.

In someways Dan is glad that she is blissfully unaware of what being gay means, he remembers what the word meant to him at that age and the bad memories it brings when he thinks back.

He wonders if he should talk to Ian and Lauren about it, he’s not sure if it's overstepping to ask them to educate their daughter about it but maybe once Emily has gone to bed he’ll bring it up. 

They sit with her for another hour, they watch cartoons and Phil shows her videos of Norman swimming around in his tank. Emily is in awe of the pretty fish. She informs them that she wants to get a fish like theirs for her birthday. Phil says he’ll convince her parents however, Dan knows this means he and Phil are buying her a fish for her birthday because Ian and Lauren will definitely say no.

“Guys, it’s time for Emily to go to bed” Ian says appearing in the doorway. 

He and Lauren had been sat in the dining room setting up a board game which really means they wanted a break from their 7 year old for a few hours and made Dan and Phil entertain her.

“I’m not tired” Emily says “I wanna stay up and play games with you”

“Emily it’s 9pm, it’s already past your bedtime”

Emily frowns and folds her arms tightly, she makes no effort to move.

“What if me and Uncle Phil read you a bedtime story?” Dan suggests “Then will you go to bed?”

With that Emily grins, gets up and heads towards the stairs without another word.

*

Dan is sat next to Emily on her bed, she’s laying down and is tucked in. The bed is small and even though Dan is sat up his feet are still hanging off the end. Phil is sat on a small armchair next to the bed. The chair is also small and he’s hugging his knees. 

Emily picked out a book titled  _ Llama Llama Red Pajama  _ and the moment she hands it to Dan, Phil bursts into a fit of laughter

“I don’t think you’ll ever escape the world of Danisnotonfire” He teases.

Dan just shakes his head and starts to read “Llama llama red pajama reads a story with his mama”

“I’m the llama” Emily interjects “But you’re not my mama”

Emily giggles to herself and then asks Dan to carry on. She stops him again halfway to and makes Phil read the rest.

“Baby llama stomps and pouts, baby llama jumps and shouts. Llama llama red pajama in the dark without his mama” Phil pauses

“Are you sure this is a kids book?” Dan quizzes “it’s pretty dark”

“It says ages 2-8 on it” 

“Keep reading please!” Emily Insists

They finish the book, both Dan and Phil confused with what they’d just read but Emily liked it and that’s seemingly what matters. They tell her it’s time for her to sleep and Dan tucks her in again. He places a kiss on her forehead and Phil does the same. 

As they leave the room, Emily stops them

“Can I ask you a question?” 

They look at each other and then back to her.

“Of course” Dan says as they both re enter the room

“Why did mummy only set up  _ one _ of the guest rooms?”

They look at each other again. They’ve been coming here since Emily was a baby and this is the first time she’s ever asked them about it. Neither of them know what to say. They stand awkwardly for a moment before Dan finally speaks.

“Well” Dan begins “Do you know what being gay means?”

Emily nods “My friend, Samantha said her mummies are gay”

“Did you know I’m gay?” Dan asks

Emily shakes her head.

“What about me?” Phil says

Emily shakes her head again. “Is that why you don’t have girlfriends?”

“That is exactly why” Dan responds

“Do you have boyfriends?” She smiles

“I do, actually” Phil smiles “do you wanna see a picture?”

Emily nods again and Phil takes his phone out of his pocket. He sits on the edge of the bed. 

He opens up the picture he took of the drawing she did of Dan and shows it to her. She looks at it for a second until it finally clicks in her mind about what Phil is implying. They watch her face light up.

“You should have told me!” She says, she looks at Dan “I feel like an idiot for calling you Daniel. I should have been calling you Uncle Daniel”

“I’ll forgive you only if you start calling me Uncle Daniel from now on”

She smiles again “Okay, goodnight Uncle Daniel, goodnight Uncle Phil”

They both say their goodnights and Dan turns off her light and closes the door. 

He and Phil both stand in the hallway for a second. It feels good that she knows now, they never really hid it from her but it’s good that they can be honest with her about it now. 

*

They spend the next few hours playing board games with Ian and Lauren, it’s a tradition at this point. They get a little bit drunk on wine and Ian shares some embarrassing stories about Phil from their time at university. It’s stories they’ve all heard before but the alcohol makes them still think it’s funny. 

It’s 2am by the time they settle in the guest room. Dan is laying on his back, scrolling through twitter and Phil, who is resting his head on Dan’s shoulder is reading his feed as he scrolls. 

He takes his eyes off of the phone for a moment and scans Dan’s face.

“Do you ever think about how we’ve watched Emily grow up?” He asks

Dan nods.

Phil continues “Like, remember when she was a baby and she was in my you now video and she couldn’t even hold up her own head?”

Dan hums “and now she’s a chaotic 7 year old”

“Are we gonna have a chaotic 7 year old one day?” He muses

Dan turns his head to look at Phil “Do you want one?”

“Well, we should have a baby first and then they’ll grow up to be 7. So yeah i want a kid if you do”

“Who says we need just 1?”

Dan closes his eyes and leans his head against Phil’s.

Manchester is the place they seem to make important decisions. Dan thinks this might even be where he proposes. It’s where it all began for them and even though they don’t live here anymore, they both know it will always be the most important place in the world. It’s the place where they first met and had their first kiss up on the Manchester Eye and even though the eye has gone, the memories are still there.It’s where Phil spent a stupid amount of money and the sky bar, where they filmed the First Day in the Life of Dan and Phil. Everywhere they go here has history and meaning. It’ll always be their home. 

They fall asleep wrapped in each others arms, thinking of their future together and there’s one main thought on their minds:

_ It’s good to be in Manchester. _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on tumblr: @ThrivingHowell 
> 
> Thank you to Harley (@lemonheadlester) and Holly (@Philhcwell) for being my betas :)


End file.
